VIDEO GAMES

Violence in the video games are among what we call in psychology the risk factors that lead to violent behavior. Some children might develop aggressive and violent behavior from video games because they love to control. Also, other children, due to social and family surroundings, believe that imposing power over another makes them stronger. Some children love the element of excitement, therefore, video games, cartoons or comic books, which relay on violence, contribute in generating excitement.

Perhaps the biggest concern associated with video games has been the amount of time which children dedicate to playing them. Nine out of ten children play video games, and many of them play for hours a day. On average, children play video games two hours a day. Part of this obsession is because most games always contain a new threat or challenge, and this creates a compulsion to continue playing. Other reasons include pressure to continue playing so one can compete with other children’s high scores and deep knowledge of the game. When more than two hours a day is spent playing video games it is often at the expense of other activities. This is what many fear is happening to the majority of children, they are eliminating social activities in favor of the anti-social video games. Parents often see their children as becoming obsessed with playing, and the parents are able to see firsthand just how pervasive and powerful this gaming force is. One potential direction of this force is that it immerses children in useless, repetitive play that has the power to affect the ways in which they develop both emotionally and physically.

Ref: Video Games